Lamb Shank Stew with Root Vegetables

These days when I step outside, I just want to turn around and go back in the house. Sacramento makes up for its blazingly hot summers with foggy, gloomy, dark, dismal, chilly winters, perfect weather, come to think of it, for hearty lamb stews such as this one.

Root vegetables rule the season, sweet carrots and parsnips, turnips, and the happily named rutabaga. (Rutabaga. Rutabaga. Sounds like it could be the name of a latin dance, doesn’t it?) This stew is loaded with flavor.

Don’t forget the gremolata (parsley, lemon zest, garlic garnish which I forgot to photograph in the stew); it gives the stew a great zip. For those of you lamb-non-eaters, if you try it with beef (use chuck), let us know how it goes. I imagine it will be just as good.

Lamb Shank Stew with Root Vegetables Recipe

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 3 lbs of lamb shanks, each shank cut into a couple of pieces
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 4 carrots, 2 coarsely chopped, 2 cut into 2-inch segments, and quartered lengthwise
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups chicken stock*
• Two 1x3-inch strips of orange zest
• 1 medium rutabaga, roughly chopped (1 1/2 inch pieces)
• 1 medium turnip, roughly sliced or chopped (1 inch pieces)
• 2 parsnips, chopped

Gremolata

• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

*If cooking gluten-free use homemade chicken stock or gluten-free packaged stock.

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